Bucks County McCaffrey's Burns; Employees Are Transferred to N.J.

Candace Braun

Employees from McCaffrey's Supermarket in Lower Makefield, Pa. are being transferred to other store locations in both Princeton and West Windsor following a fire on Saturday, February 28, that caused extensive damage to the building.

James McCaffrey, owner of the three grocery stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said he intends to rebuild the supermarket at its location in the Edgewood Village Shopping Center in Bucks County, Pa., as soon as possible.

"We're hoping to [rebuild] within the next six to seven months," said Mr. McCaffrey.

In the meantime, Mr. McCaffrey has begun transferring some of his 175 employees to his other store locations. The number of employees that will be transferred has yet to be determined said Mark Eckhouse, a representative from McCaffrey's corporate office: "We're trying to keep as many working as we can."

The Lower Makefield supermarket caught fire when a cigarette set fire to a bush outside the building, which then spread to the overhang, said Mr. McCaffrey. The two-alarm blaze brought firefighters from 15 different fire departments, some as far away as West Trenton.

While steel and structural damage to the building will have to be repaired, most of the damage is on the outside of building, with only 10 percent on the inside, said fire officials.

Mr. McCaffrey opened his first grocery store in Philadelphia, which he closed when he opened a Thriftway in Lower Makefield in 1986. The store name was changed to McCaffrey's approximately 10 years ago, after which he expanded to branches in both Princeton and West Windsor. The McCaffrey's corporate office is in Middletown Township, Pa.

The store owner said he intends to set up a small market under a tent in the outside parking lot where the Lower Makefield store had been located. Mr. McCaffrey expects the market to be ready by the first week of April.

The availability of items at McCaffrey's Market in Princeton and West Windsor should not be affected by the fire, said Mr. McCaffrey, as all products come out of a central commissary in Langhorne, Pa.